We All Cope Somehow
by Twilit-Kingdom
Summary: During one late rainy evening Erwin finds himself taking note of all the different ways various members of the corps cope with their fears toward the titan menus. Slight Eruri. From Erwin's personal point of view. One Shot.


**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own Shingeki no Kyojin, nor any of the characters mentioned.

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Erwin stood silently in an ever so slightly lit doorway, a mug of warm coffee in his grasp and a light frown sprawled out across his facial features; listening to the sounds of the pitter-patter of heavy rain from the outside beat against the weak glass of the window. Today had been stressful for the Survey Corps with at least sixteen men losing their lives against humanity's one true enemy, the titan. Death isn't rare among these young men and everyone knew that, yet it was all still too hard to come to terms with. In the back of every man and or women's mind there were dark, unspeakable memories, and each and every one person had their own way of coping with those memories and the horrific sights they've seen beyond the wall… and for the first time, as he stood up against the doorframe, Commander Smith was really able to take note of all the different ways his men tried to distract themselves.

There was Armin Arlet for example, a bright lad, Erwin thought, who constantly worried about his dear friends and teammates above all else, had his books. He had been seen multiple times in the common area of the dorm building with his nose stuck between two or three novels at a time, some of fictional fairy tales and others of scientific theories few bothered to study anymore. It's also been noted in the past that Armin is one to have nightmares, and perhaps these books full of many different stories were used as his escape into another world where he can forget about all the daily bloodshed even if just for a little while.

Next there was Jean Kirschstein, whom Erwin had always thought would be hard to figure out for a long time, the young man never really liked showing his fears or worries to other parties. However after he recent death of Marco Bolt that all came to change, the young horse face began to spend more time resting in his room alone rather than spend time gallivanting around with his friends, making all sorts of obnoxious noise. Erwin felt a little bad for Kirstein, remembering how earlier on he had hoped to join the Military Police Brigade and live out the simple life in the Inner District, and yet, he has faced the challenges of life and death many different times… But Jean was wise, and a much appreciated member of the Corps, the Commander was happy to have him.

Then there is Jaeger, humanity's secret weapon. Erwin worried about him sometimes in all honesty, noting how the boy doesn't try to cope with his upsetting memories or fears, nor does he try to lock them away in the back of his mind. He uses them to fuel his rage, and although he still spends time with Armin and Mikasa as any 'normal' teenage boy should, there are still rare times during battle of which Eren will lose himself and become a killing machine…it's definitely something they'll have to work on with him.

After a few glances around the common area of the building Erwin allowed a faint smile to take the place of his frown as the very thought of how Ms. Hanji Zoe 'copes' with her inner thoughts came to mind, and that is by drinking. The commander wondered sometimes how it was Hanji even managed to get her hands on alcohol as often as she did, for nowadays it was rare to come by; and yet at the same time he didn't much care, she was a fun drunk and often put a smile on his, and even Levi's, faces. Hell, occasionally she'd even manage to get the Corporal drunk alongside her and they'd compete in games of who can hold their liquor the best! Sometimes however, those games would lead to various sexual activates involving the three of them…and when neither of those two situations are occurring, she's ranting about all the possibly theories she has about the titans. Erwin wasn't completely sure if Hanji drank to wash away her memories, or if it was just for the overall fun of it all…but as said before, he didn't much care. To him she was a trusted friend, and he rather enjoyed seeing that deranged smile appear across his pale face.

Finally the last person the Commander took notice of was none other than Lance Corporal Levi himself. The two were close, behind closed doors, and often worried about one another. People often thought that the short tempered Levi had no emotions or pity for the dead, but what they didn't know is that the deaths of his men often weigh the corporal down. He often has troubles sleeping at night, nightmares surfacing from the back of his mind…and he collects the badges of passed squad members in order to remember the full sacrifice they had given for the sake of humanity. Some say Levi cleans as much as he does due to his past in the underground, but to a point, Erwin also believes that he does so in order to distract himself from his mistakes, and the way his actions have cost many men their lives.

The sound of the rain started to become louder, drowning out the hysterical laughter coming from everyone in the common room. Erwin took one last sip from his mug, gazing around the room one last time, before allowing a faint chuckle to escape his lips; pushing his body from the doorframe he had been leaning on this whole time and entering into the room. He found Levi on his knees scrubbing away at the floor boards, a puddle of soapy water beneath him indicating that he'd been there for a while now.

"Corporal," the Commander voiced, his smile from before becoming all the more noticeable.

Levi lifted his head for a moment, breaking his attention from the intense scrubbing, only to let his gaze fall back down after a matter of seconds, "What do you want, Erwin?"

"For you to stop that non-stopped cleaning and come to bed with me," replied the former, another light chuckle escaping his lips.

The corporal blinked, stopping all efforts in his cleaning, dropping his soapy rag into the bucket of water that sat next to him, again lifting his to lock eyes with his commander, "And if I'm not tired…?"

"Who said anything about sleeping? I think we both could use a little stress relief after everything that's happened today," Erwin mused, extending his hand in an effort to assist Levi up from his place on the ground, his smile now radiating from his face.

Levi continued to stare up at his Erwin for a long moment or two before letting out a long, stifled sigh; whipping his soapy hands on his pant legs and reaching out to take hold of his commander's outstretched hand.

"Fine."

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Well, there's that. Idea was inspired by my older sister and the whole fic came to me while at school. Please leave a review telling me how you liked it and or how you didn't like it. Advice is always appreciated as well. Thanks for reading! :D


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